lecture 4 - History of Americas Flashcards
(34 cards)
What impact had the Mexican revolution, Russian revolution, WWI on regions in Latin America?
- showed big change was possible
- Inspirations
- Influenced breakthrough of leftist movements
- Influences of workers parties
- Influence from Russia
What influenced the breakthrough of leftist movements in Latin America other than other revolutions?
Waves of: Socialism, Anarchism (abolish all forms of authority), Anarcho-syndicalism (labour unions as main vechicle for revolution), communism
*mass politics infused with nationalism
*regional differences
*women in politics
- trade union movements
- Intense ideological debates
(Fascsim was strong esp. in Argentina and Brazil during this time)
Labour movements in LA?
- There’s different types
- Either electoral strategy and agitation
- middle class reformists, repression, nationalism
- They could either gain socialism through democratic elections or with direct organisation with strikes etc
- These movements had a big impact on LA
Argentina in this era of labour unions (before WWII) ?
- Model for trade unionism and radical politics
- Buenos Aires as a prominent site of class conflict
-̶ Growing middle class: reform
̶- Well-organised labour organisation: demands
improved living and working conditions
̶- Strikes and violent repression, urban and rural areas - Immigration: Industralisation : Dynamic trade : Developed government –> important areas for new forms of classconflict
- Terrible working conditions (esp for women)
Some examples of workers protests in Argentina?
- Federación Obrera Regional Argentina, the largest
labour confederation. (Image of a manifestation in
Rosario for the 8-hour week, 1900 - March by rural workers in
Patagonia, 1921. “Patagonia
Rebelde” refers to the massive
uprising and violent suppression of
sheep herders in 1920-22 - Street view during the “Semana
Trágica”,1919. Approx. 1500 people
died under the repression of strikes
Brazil in era of labour unions (before WWII)?
- Politics dominated by the landed oligarchy (coffee planters São Paulo; cattle
ranchers Minas Gerais) ~ “café com leite” - Radical politics in major cities: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo
- 1908, formation of the Confederação Operária Brasileira (COB, Brazilian Labor
Confederation) - Series of general strikes, with success, but also repression
- 1920s “Tenentes Revolt” / Tenentismo failure but highly symbolic
What is Oligarchy?
Oligarchy is a form of government or power structure in which authority is concentrated in the hands of a small group of individuals, families, or organizations. These elites may derive their power from wealth, social status, military strength, political influence, or other factors.
Colombia in this era of labour unions (before WWII)?
- 1928 massacre of banana strikers
̶- Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Partido Liberal. assassinated 1948 → Bogotazo
̶- La Violencia, peasant guerrilla and paramilitary mobilization
̶- 1957, Liberals-Conservatives pact, the National Front
What was the massacre of banana strikers?
Who was the foremost socialist political thinker from Peru?
José Carlos Mariátegui (1894–1930)
̶= Journal ‘Amauta’ (1926-1930)
̶= Book ‘Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian Reality’ (1928)
= applies historical materialism while also signalling the importance of indigenous culture.
= Marxism in the Andes is proposed as Indo-American Socialism.
= ‘We certainly do not want socialism in Latin America to be acopy or imitation. It should be a heroic creation’ (1927)
What is the APRA?
Popular American Revolutionary Alliance (1927)
̶= Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre.
̶= pan-Latin Americanism
̶= Suppressed yet rising popularity
̶= In power under President Alan García (1985-1990; 2006-2011) yet not much left of initial ideology
What is Indigenismo?
- Mexico, Guatemala, Andes: indigenismo
̶- political philosophy, e.g. Mariátegui, APRA
̶- paternalistic, reproduces assimilation practices
̶- Educational and economic initiatives, e.g.
Department of Indigenous Affairs under Lázaro
Cárdenas in Mexico
̶- Literature and arts, e.g. José Maria Arguedas in
Peru
= an ideology that emphazizes the relationsship between nationstate and indigenous people
What type of arts emerged in Mexico in early 20th century?
- Radical arts
- Focus on social critique, oppression of peasants, urban working class
- Muralism: Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros
̶- Printing: Popularisation of the animated skeletons of printmaker José Guadalupe Posada
̶- Women remained overshadowed by male artists. E.g. Frida Kahlo
What is typical for Brazilian modernism?
- type of arts
- stark break with the sentimentalism of earlier artistic expression
̶- influences from indigenous and African cultures, search for ‘true’ Brazilian soul and identity
̶São Paulo, Grupo dos Cinco incl. - writers Mário de Andrade, Oswald de Andrade.
̶- Women painters, Tarsila do Amaral, Anati Malfatt
Who is Gabriela Mistral?
- 1889 - 1957
- influential writer, poet, pedagogue, activist
̶- first Latin American Nobel Prize in Literature, 1945
̶- Social critique, influenced by both socialism
and Christian religion, in areas of education,
women rights, anti-colonialism.
̶- Legacy tends to be overshadowed by Pablo Neruda, and sentimentally reduced to poet of children and motherhood
What did the Import subsitution industralization in 1930s imply?
- Latin amerikanska industrier vilja att fylla vakuumet som skapades i den internationella handeln, stöttade av state policy
- Generates take-off of industrialization
- economic independence empowered nationalist politics
- Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Mexico
- Mostly light industries: clothes, soap osv
- Further impetus WWII
What is populism?
- Populism, karismatiska ledare som vill vinna över vänster-arbetarna men samtidigt få stöd av de rika/medelklassen,
- pragmatisk: populism - vinner folket som har staten/systemet som motstånd, det motsägelsefulla är att ledaren blir en del av det systemet.
- Aspekter som skapar populism: löfte om att representera folket, mot eliten, karismatisk, demokratisk vald, retorisk, vi mot dem diskurs, attackerar journalister, utlänningar, prone to conspiracy, danger av auktoritära.
= Finns ingen tydlig ideologisk linje mellan populism och caudlismo
= Ingen fundamental kritik av kapitalismen
Who was Getulio Vargas?
- Complex and contradictive figure in Brazil’s history, said to be man of the people, but his politics mixed authoritarian rule with social reforms
- Served as president from 1930-1951
- Loses one election → men genom en kupp får han makt med hjälp av militären
→ 1930 installeras en ny republik: centralisering av makten, politics of nationalisation, workers support, strong repression of opposition → han blir mer och mer auktoritär
1937 → diktator, ny stat = Estado Novo → 1945, Vargas deposed → 1950 omvald till president; but undermined by corruption and US influence → Army wants Vargas to resign → suicide 1954
“now the workers feel menaced, disheartened, neutralized. Everyone suffers from the flip-flopping policies that have only one goal: to conceal their true purpose, which is to bilk the workers.”
what was Getulio Vargas new state politics?
Authoritarianism: Vargas suspended democratic institutions, censored the press, and suppressed political opposition, justifying these measures as necessary to prevent communist and fascist threats.
Corporatism: He promoted a corporatist model, organizing society into state-controlled syndicates for workers and employers, integrating them into the state apparatus and limiting independent labor organizing.
Nationalism: Vargas fostered a strong sense of Brazilian nationalism, promoted “racial democracy,” and expanded the cultural role of the state.
Social and Economic Reforms: He enacted significant labor reforms (including minimum wage laws, social security, and the right to unionize), expanded education, enfranchised women, and promoted industrialization and state involvement in the economy.
Centralization: The federal government took direct control over the states, replacing elected governors with appointed “intervenors” loyal to Vargas.
Who was Juan Perón and Eva Perón?
- Juan became president: 1946
- Implements several reforms, + working class, + labour unions
- Better salary
- Created a workers identity; a community: redefined the contours of class struggle
- Womens rights
- His wife very influental aswell; key to Juan success, She was leader of Peronist feminist party
What was the downfall och Juan Peron?
- His wife died in cancer
- Economic hardship 1950
- Ends up in exile: but is still popular
- Comes back with new wife in 1973 (dies 1974)
- Isabel Peron takes over
- 1976 = military coup –> military dictatur
What was the good neighborhood policy?
- 1933-1945
- Goal: maintaining US power globally
- Builds on idées from 1920s/1930s to abandon aggresive interventionalism
- 1933 = US president; Franklin D Roosevelt: “The US needs allies in LA and LA goodwill
- End of military intervention, + end of protectorates (Panama + Cuba)
- Very hypocritical; ex relationsships with dictatorship in Central America and Carebbean
What war, economic and political impact had WWII in Latin America?
War : Minor
Economic : benefits from worldwide demand for primary goods
Political : Neutral or sided (late) with allies, growing right-left tensions in domestic politics and international
Present and explain the Bracero program
- Context: labor behövs i US
- Part of the increased Mexico-US cooperation in the context of WWII
- 1942 bilateral agreement, to recruit 300.000,
- lasted until 1964 (officiellt), 4.6 miljoner arbetare då!
- dålig lön, inhumane working conditions,
reimbursement scandal mexiko,
agricultural labor
En mix av bracero program med andra tekniker
1964 avslutas programmet → ett längre program/system uppkom → en kultur av lågavlönade jobb i branschen → Flera skaffade familj där, stannade, kvar i dåliga arbetsförhållanden → reflekterar en längre process av att ha billig arbetskraft i agrikultur branschen. Fler personer började där EFTER världskriget → en stor förändring gjordes → en ny ekonomisk kontext → staten menade att jobb för US-workers försvann → gjorde att staten startade en massdeportation av migrantarbetare (operation wet-back)
